Title: Interview with Albert Bumgardner - #1

Original format: VHS

Item Id.: spl_ds_abumgardner_01_01

Description: This is part 1 of 1 of an interview with Albert Bumgardner. This interview was conducted by David Hewitt on September 30, 1986.

Albert Bumgardner (1923-1987) was a noted Seattle architect responsible for the design of buildings across Washington State. He grew up in Illinois and attended Illinois University where he received his bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1949. He moved to Seattle and started working with other architectural firms before starting his own in 1953. He served as the first chair of the Seattle Design Commission and helped protect Pioneer Square as the city’s first Historic District. Bumgardner designed several buildings on the campuses of Evergreen State College, the University of Washington, Central Washington University and Western Washington University. He also designed many private residences and buildings throughout Seattle including the Intiman Theater, Waterfront Place and Watermark Tower. He was president of the Seattle AIA Chapter from 1962 to 1962 and received the AIA Seattle Medal in 1987.

During the interview, Bumgardner discusses his early life, schooling and decision to come to the west coast from Illinois. Much of the interview concentrates on his career and projects such as the south UW HUB, the Waterfront Park and a variety of projects around the Pike Place Market.

This interview is part of the Donald Schmechel Oral History Collection. Don Schmechel, who was a member of the Seattle Public Library Foundation board, began this project with Seattle Public Library in 1984, with the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) brought on board as a partner in early 1985. Schmechel himself worked to raise the funding for the project, and volunteered his time to manage the project, and to conduct interviews along with a crew of volunteers. Originally titled the Videotaping Historic Figures (VHF) Program, the project interviewed 91 people, with a portion of the interviews entering the collections of the Seattle Public Library and a portion of them going to MOHAI.The interviews conducted with these Seattle civic, business and cultural leaders in 1985 are valuable first-hand accounts that provide insight into developments taking place in the mid-twentieth century. 

Digitization of this videotape material has been made possible in part by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

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